Apparatus for manufacturing gas



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

H. G. SHIELDS. APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING GAS.

No. 604,427. Patented May 24, 1898.

(No Model.) I 2 SheetsSheet 2.

- H. G. SHIELDS.

APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING GAS. No. 604,427. Patented-May 24, 1898.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY C. SHIELDS, OF TROY, NEWV YORK.

APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING .GAS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 604,427, dated May 24,1898.

Application filed December 2'7, 1895. Serial No. 573,463. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY C. SHIELDS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Troy, county of Rensselaer, and State of New York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for theManufacture of Gas, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to such improvements; and it consists of the novelconstruction and combination of parts hereinafter described andsubsequently claimed.

Reference may be had to the accompanying drawings, and the letters andnumerals of reference marked thereon, which form a part of thisspecification.

Similar letters and numerals refer to similar parts in the severalfigures therein.

Figure 1 of the drawings is a view in side elevation of portions of agas-generator and fixing-chamber, showing pipe connections, valve-case,and valve-operating mechanism. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the same.Fig. 3 is a vertical section of the main-valve case, taken on the brokenline 3 3 in Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a face view of the main valve detached.Fig. 5 is a side elevation of one of the removable valve-seats detached.

The principal object of my invention is to provide a main valve thatwill be durable and that can be easily and quickly operated to form oneof the steps necessary to reverse the currents in a gas-generator toproduce up and down runs.

I have shown the gas-generator A provided with the usual blast-pipe A atthe lower end, the upper exit-pipe A for taking ofi the prod nets ofcombustion and gases, the steam-pipe A leading from a steam-boiler to anupper branch A entering the upper end of the generator, and a lowerbranch A entering the lower end of the generator. A three-way cock A isadapted to alternately deliver the steam to the upper and lowerbranches. The generator is also provided with a gaspipe A, leadingoutwardly from the lower end of the generator. 7 e

The two pipes A and A lead to the valvecase B, which is shown attachedto and opening into the upper end of the fixing-chamber B.

When an up run is to be made, steam is admitted through the lower branchto the lower end of the generator, and the gasor decomposed steam leavesthe upper end of the generator through pipe A and passing through theValve-case enters the fixing-chamber, the pipe A being closed.

To make a down run, the steam is admitted through the upper branch intothe upper end of the generator, and the decomposed steam passes from thelower end of the generator through the pipe A and thence through thevalve-case into the fixing-chamber, the pipe A being closed.

As a means for alternately closing and opening the pipes A and A Iprovide the valvedisk 0, which is centrally pivoted upon one end of thecrank-arm O, the other end of the arm being fixed interiorly of thevalve-case upon the operating crank-shaft O rotatively movable inbearings in the shell of the valvecase and provided with an operatinghandle or leverO fixed upon a part projecting exteriorly of thevalve-case.

At the upper ends of the pipes A and A I provide valve-seats B and Blocated within and attached to the case and projecting a short distanceabove the bottom of the case. The seats terminate in approximately thesame horizontal plane in close proximity to each other, so that arocking movement imparted to the shaft 0 will swing the valve from oneseat to the other seat in sucha manner that the operation of closing onepipe opens the other pipe.'

By connecting the valve-operating shaft with the three-way steam-cock A,as by lever O and link 0 the rotative movement of the shaft whichoperates the valve also acts to operate the steam-cock, whereby steam isadmitted to the upper end of the generator when the pipe A is closed andto the lower end of the generator when the pipe A is closed and pipe Aopened. Such arrangement and connection of the respective valves rendersit impossible to accidentally admit steam into the lower end 'of thegenerator when the pipe A is closed, thereby obviating accidents,'whichwould materially retard the useful operation of the apparatus, and atthe same time facilitating convenience in successful operation.

Heretofore slide gate-valves have been extensively used, one for each ofthe pipes A and A but the intense heat to which the seats of suchvalves, as well as the valves themselves, are subjected cause largeexpansion, and the variation of expansion due to variation of heat whenthe valves are opened and closed renders it difficult to produce a tightjoint. The wearing away of the parts due to the contact of cinders andashes carried through the pipes by the strong currents of air and gasessoon causes such valves to leak, thereby materially impairing thesuccessful operation of the apparatus.

In my improved form of valve the seats are attached to the bottom ofthevalve-case over the connecting-pipes and project above it to allow spacefor ashes and cinders to lodge without interfering with the operation ofthe valve. The valve itself is preferably a heavy piece of metal havinga smooth plane face which slides across the seats. A pin 0 is tappedinto the center of the valve, being passed loosely through an enlargedaperture in the end of the crank-arm. The valve is held to its seat bygravity, its weight being sufficient to tightly close the openingthrough the valve-seat. As the valve when operated is caused to slideback and forth from one pipe-seat to the other its action is to grindthe seats and the face of the valve smooth, thereby automaticallymaintaining a perfect tight-fitting joint, greatly enhancing thedurability of the parts and insuring perfect action.

The pin 0 passing loosely through the crank-arm,for1ns a swivelconnection between the disk and arm, which permits the disk to rotateupon an axis central to the pin as the disk is forced to slide from oneseat to the other. Such rotary movements cause different surfaces on thedisk to engage the seats when the slide movements take place, therebymaintaining a uniformly polished and plane surface on the disk insteadof a grooved or uneven surface, which would result from the slidemovements if the disk were non-rotatively supported and moved by thearm. The construction is such that the valve rests upon one or bothpipes and moves on them in an approximately horizontal plane. The loosepivot 68 allows variations in the plane of the movement. This insuresthe proper operation of the valve in case either pipe is bent or warpedfrom its normal position, as is liable to happen owing to the hightemperature to which they are subjected, and particularly the largerpipe.

The valve-case is lined with refractory material B and is provided witha door 13 on the side, affording easy access to all the working parts ofthe valve.

When one of the pipes, as A islarger in diameter than the other pipe, asA the valve common to both is made of sufficient size to close thelarger pipe and allowed to overlap the seat of the smaller pipe, asshown in Fig. 3.

When desired, the face of the valve may be provided with an annulargroove 0 larger in diameter than the diameter of the smaller pipe andsmaller than that of the larger pipe. Such groove tends to prevent thewarping of a larger valve and maintains a plane surface on its face.

By making the valve-seats B and B of separate detachable pipes ornipples or thimbles, which are secured in place by bolts B and nuts B Iam able to renew or repair the seats without disturbing the relativepositions of the case and pipes. This is a very important feature of myinvention for the reason that the pipes are very large and rigid and thevalve-case very heavy and practically immovable, and if these partsshould be disconnected after having been subjected to the intense heatrequired in operating the apparatus it would be a very long anddifficult operation to reunite the case and pipes, so as to produce atight joint.

By making the bottom of the case of sheet metal I am able to secure atight joint between the pipes, the seats, and the sheet metal by meansof the nuts and bolts, which joint will not be inj uredby the slightvariation due to heat expansion of the several pipes and other parts andthe bolts will be protected by the refractory lining, as shown. Sheetmetal not only provides for more readily making tight joints, but suchjoints are less liable to be opened by expansion due to heat, and themetal about the joints is less liable to be cracked for the reason thatsheet metal has flexibility, and though this results in small variationsin the level of the mouths of the pipes the valve by its wearing action,and more particularly by its loose pivot, is adapted to accommodateitself to such variations.

By providing the valve-case with a door 13 on the side of the case I amable to obtain easy access to the interior parts for the purpose ofrenewal or repairs. The door may be secured in any well-known manner.

The valve-case is provided with a packingbox D of any well-known form toproduce a tight joint with the valve-operating crankshaft 0 wherever thesame passes through the shell of the valve-case. Since the shaft has noslide or endwise movement like the stem of a slide gate-valve, thatportion which is contained in the packing-boxes never com es in contactwith the confined gases, and a tight joint is easily maintained.

In constructions where the valve-stem slides through a packing-box intoa gas-chamber the action of the hot gases upon the stem roughens it, sothat the roughened stem soon tears and wears the packing sufficiently tocause a leak through the box.

I am aware that two alternately-used gasconduits have been combined witha valve sliding in ways endwise of itself across said conduits, a partof the operating mechanism being situated in one of the conduits, andsuch device is not of my invention. My

improvement is characterized by a case having an area larger than thecombined trans- IIO verse area of the gas-pipes, said pipes extendinginto the case'above its bottom and adapted to be covered alternately bya valve moving loosely on and over the pipe-mouths about a pointsituated outside said pipes, none of the operating mechanism beingsituated within either pipe. The case is adapted to receive and hold theashes swept by the valve from the valve-seat. The valve is uniformlyworn on its bottom. It readily follows moderate variations of the levelof the pipe-mouths and its operating devices are not of a kind to beeasily affected by heat and are also removed from the direct path of thehot gases, and, further, the case is improved, as elsewhere hereinpointed out.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a valve, the combination of the valvecase, pipes situated side byside and extending above the fioor of the case, a pair of valveseats onthe ends of said pipes in approximately the same horizontal plane, aperpendicular crank-shaft approximately equidistant from such seats andextending from the the center of the motion of the valve, and meanslocated exteriorly of the case for communicating rocking movements tothe shaft, substantially as described.

2. In combination a valve-case, pipes extending through its bottom andabove the same, the valve pivoted at a point outside the circumferenceof the pipes to swing on and across their months in an approximatelyhorizontal plane, a shaft supported in the case-wall and fixed againstendwise motion, and devices intermediate the valve and shaft whereby therotation of the latter alternately covers and uncovers each pipe-mouth,substantially as described. 7

3. In a valve, the combination with the valve-case, said case having asheet-metal side with a pair of openings, pipes extending through saidopenings, the valve-disk, and means for operating the disk, of adetachable nipple-seat registering with each case-opening, and means fordetachably securing the nipple-seats to the sheet-metal wall of thecase, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 16th day ofDecember, 1895.

HENRY C. SHIELDS. Witnesses:

Gno. A. MosHER, FRANK G. CURTIS!

